County commissioner candidates Hover, Thrasher maintain lead in District 2 primary race

Updated returns from Tuesday’s primary election indicate that incumbent District 2 Okanogan County Commissioner Ray Campbell continues to trail challengers Andy Hover and Ashley Thrasher and will probably not advance to the November general election.

District 2 includes the Methow Valley, which Campbell has represented since he defeated incumbent Bud Hover – Andy Hover’s father – in 2012. In the primary, only District 2 residents vote to determine general election finalists. The entire county will vote in the November election to choose a District 2 commissioner, and the choice appears to be between Hover and Thrasher.

The District 1 race for county commissioner was extremely tight after Friday’s vote count was released, and remained too close to call. District 1 incumbent Sheilah Kennedy drew 500 votes or 28 percent of the vote in a close four-way primary race, followed by Larry W. Schreckengast with 459 votes (26 percent), Chris Branch with 457 votes (26 percent) and Ted Reinbold with 343 votes (20 percent).

The Town of Twisp’s request for an increase in its local retail sales tax to help fund infrastructure repairs seems headed to approval with 195 yes votes, or 73 percent, and 72 no votes (27 percent) after Friday’s ballot count.

Also on the ballot were two levy proposals by Three Rivers Hospital to generate funds for needed repairs and upgrades at the Brewster facility. Proposition 2, a levy lid lift request, was being approved among Okanogan County voters with 58 percent in favor after Friday’s vote tally. Proposition 1, a one-year special levy request, was also leading among Okanogan County residents with 56 percent voting yes, but a 60 percent supermajority is required for its passage. A portion of Douglas County also is within the hospital district.

According to the Auditor’s Office, 7,514 ballots had been counted as of Friday and another 1,881 remain to be counted. The next voting tally will be released on Wednesday (Aug. 10).

Other locally significant results:

In the race to replace retiring state Sen. Linda Evans Parlette in the 12th District, which includes the Methow Valley, Brad Hawkins – who has been a state representative for District 12 – leads among Okanogan County voters with 63 percent, while Jon Wyss drew 37 percent. Incumbent state Rep. Cary Condotta led challenger Dan Maher among Okanogan County voters with 55 percent compared to Maher’s 45 percent. In the contest for Hawkins’ seat in the state House of Representatives, Mike Steele drew 43 percent, Danny Stone 21 percent, Garn Christensen 21 percent and Jerry Paine 16 percent among Okanogan County voters. Stone leads Christensen by only seven votes after Friday’s vote tally.

In the race for the 4th Congressional District, which includes Okanogan County, incumbent Dan Newhouse drew 48 percent of the county’s voters while his closest challenger, Doug McKinley, had 29 percent.